Human Exposure to Arsenic and Toxic

Overview

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Key numbers

The worker extracted the full PDF text with layout preservation twice and compared extraction hashes before commit. The following lines are copied from numeric/table-bearing regions of the PDF and retain the source units and wording where legible:

approximately 27% of global consumption, is the largest total meat consumer, although its per capita
Cd levels ranged from 0.24 to 0.44 μg/g, detected in 43% of muscle samples and varying percentages of
offal samples (100% of kidney, 95% of liver, 70% of intestine, and 50% of tripe). Mean Pb levels ranged
from 0.09 to 0.26 μg/g, detected in 70% of muscle and 100% of offal samples. Cd concentrations were
population. Mean Cd levels were 0.35±0.27, 0.44±0.27, 0.24±0.26, 0.29±0.33, and 0.41±0.33 µg/g (dry weight,
0.15, 0.55, and 0.50 µg/kg body weight (bw)/week, respectively. Mean Pb concentrations were 0.09±0.16,
quotients (THQ) ranged from 0.42 to 0.90 for Cd and 0.05 to 0.10 for Pb, all < 1, indicating no significant
meat assessed Zn, Cr, and Ni, calculating mean Estimated Daily Intakes (EDIs) of 299 (Zn), 88.9 (Cr), and
0.76 (Ni) µg/kg bw/day; only Cr intake exceeded the recommended daily intake (RDI), suggesting a
potential concern. Meanwhile, Olusola et al.(41) analyzed frozen chicken (thighs and wings) from Lagos
and Ibadan, reporting mean Cd (0.0065-0.0078 µg/dL) and Pb (0.0207-0.0227 µg/dL) levels, stating they
muscle, liver, and kidney were 0.156, 0.172, and 0.197 µg/g, respectively. Mean Pb levels were 0.721, 0.809,
sausage ranging from 0.35 to 1.20 µg/g (mean 0.76 µg/g), exceeding the Nigerian limit. Related to specific
(45) assessed risks from consuming free-range animals near municipal solid waste sites in Benin City,
goat carcasses in Enugu State, reporting mean ranges (µg/g) of 0.45-0.57 (As), 0.02-0.06 (Cd), and 0.45-
46.7-60%, indicating a potential health concern from arsenic exposure via this beef.
over 50% of samples exceeded Ghanaian limits for Cd (0.5 µg/g) and Pb (0.5 µg/g). In turn, Bortey-San et
al.(52) assessed metals in free-range animals near gold mines in Tarkwa, detecting As up to 0.14 µg/g ww
(chicken kidney), Cd highest in chicken kidney (mean 0.73 µg/g ww), and Hg highest in chicken kidney
Kasozi et al.(53) measured Cd and Pb in beef, finding no detectable Cd but a high mean Pb concentration
Kasozi et al.(54) carried out another beef study, reporting mean levels (µg/g) of 0.41 (Cd), 19.37 (Cr), 14.96
risks. A subsequent survey by Kasozi et al.(55) found similar mean levels in beef: 0.4 (Cd), 19 (Cr), 15 (Ni),
Senegal: Missohou et al.(58) linked Hg contamination in poultry meat (> 0.011 µg/g in 20% of samples)
Mauritania: Ahmed et al.(60) analyzed dromedary meat, reporting mean toxic element levels (µg/g) of
edible offal 0.24-0.44 μg/g. 0.55 µg/kg bw/week (intestine), and and
Mean Pb levels (range) 1.21 µg/kg bw/week (tripe), Okoye(38)
the mean levels were: 0.721, standards in all bovine tissues. al.(42)
Table 1. A summary of studies conducted in the current century in Nigeria on the levels of toxic trace

Methods (brief)

Cd levels ranged from 0.24 to 0.44 μg/g, detected in 43% of muscle samples and varying percentages of
offal samples (100% of kidney, 95% of liver, 70% of intestine, and 50% of tripe). Mean Pb levels ranged
from 0.09 to 0.26 μg/g, detected in 70% of muscle and 100% of offal samples. Cd concentrations were
health risks for consumers in that region. Further analysis by Ihedioha et al.(40) on the samples of cow
concentrations in cattle samples (muscles, liver, and kidney) from Ogun State. Mean Cd concentrations in
over 50% of samples exceeded Ghanaian limits for Cd (0.5 µg/g) and Pb (0.5 µg/g). In turn, Bortey-San et
and 5.5 (Pb) µg/g, with the authors suggesting the high Cr and Ni might be ubiquitous in the sampled
Senegal: Missohou et al.(58) linked Hg contamination in poultry meat (> 0.011 µg/g in 20% of samples)
the country products detected in any sample, maximum allowable limit in the al.(43)
corned beef, in samples of corned beef
Zamfara State samples of goat and Orisakwe et
measured in meat samples exposure was above (or close) to
and health risk assessment of toxic heavy metals in chilled and frozen meat collected from Sharkia provinc

Implications

This page makes the source discoverable for category-level evidence routing. Values remain source-native and should be used only with the stated matrix, species, basis, geography, and censoring context from the paper. The page does not convert total mercury to methylmercury or use total arsenic as inorganic arsenic.

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Verification notes

Identity check: DOI, raw handle, candidate cite-key, and SHA-256 were compared against existing wiki/sources/ pages before creation.
Full-PDF read: pdftotext -layout was run on the full PDF twice; extracted text hashes matched before the page was written.
Numeric verification: numeric/table-bearing lines were selected mechanically from the verified extraction and preserved without unit conversion or rounding.
Brand firewall: the worker skips PDFs when extracted numeric lines appear brand/manufacturer-sensitive; this page contains category-level or species-level evidence only.
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Update history

The five most recent substantive edits to this page, classified major (evidence or structure moved), correction (a published value or statement was wrong and has been fixed), or minor (narrative rewritten without changing the underlying evidence). Each description is derived from what the edit did to this page; the linked commit is the authoritative record, routine regeneration passes are excluded, and the full version history lives in git. When DOI minting comes online (see schema docs), each entry below will also link to a version-pinned DataCite DOI.

Commit	Date	Change	Description
b01ec52c	2026-08-04	major	2 sections added
d49e450f	2026-08-03	major	5 sections added; narrative text revised